Go ahead … pay attention to the man behind the curtain just this once. Oz may not be much of a wizard, but he sure can pull some serious cash out of his hat.
Oz the Great and Powerful took the weekend box office crown for the second straight week, collecting an estimated $42.2 million to leave the rest of its competition in the yellow brick dust. In just two weekends’ time, The Wizard of Oz prequel became the year’s highest-grossing film—sprinting past Identity Thief on the year’s box office chart with $145 million. That’s enough to buy a pair of real ruby slippers, I’d imagine.
Oz staved off a pair of newcomers to claim the title. Halle Berry’s The Call was the stronger of the newbies. It dialed in $17.1 million—not too shabby for a low-budget thriller, but nothing to phone home about, either. Still, compared to The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Berry’s movie was a ringing success: Wonderstone, starring Steve Carell and Jim Carey, could only conjure up $10.3 million. It seems the box office derby has only room for one fake magician at a time, and Oz is that magician for the moment.
Jack the Giant Slayer pocketed another $6.2 million, finishing ahead of the eternal (and interminable) Identity Thief—which stayed in the Top 5 for the sixth straight week. I might be wrong, but I don’t know if we’ve seen this sort of staying power in a flick since the box office was awash in summertime superheroes.
Final figures update: 1. Oz the Great and Powerful, $41.3 million; 2. The Call, $17.1 million; 3. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, $10.2 million; 4. Jack the Giant Slayer, $6.3 million; 5. Identity Thief, $4.4 million.
Recent Comments